After breakfast we set out on foot from here, on a hiking route that started at Gudhjem harbor, just a few hundred yards from our vacation rental, equipped with a picnic lunch and plenty of water. We walked along the coastline, alternating between stretches along the water’s edge (often dotted with ice-age granite boulders), and longer ones up on the cliffs, the path shaded by trees, with fabulous views every few meters / yards, including the canyons (Spalttäler) that form wherever the bedrock that makes up this coastline (gneiss, mostly) broke apart and you can see all the way down to the ocean. There were many spots with stairs going down or little bays with views, even a couple of waterfalls, and ultimately some beautiful rock formations called the Helligdomklippenen (the sanctuary cliffs, basically). We also found a picnic bench for our lunch just about half-way through our hike and EVEN a bathroom (they are very few and far between here).
At the end of the Helligdom stretch of coastline, we went inland where a small river called Døndalå flows into the sea, and walked up a mile into the forest to a waterfall. It was a little muddy, but beautiful and also nice and shady. We returned to the coast on a slightly different path and were all set to take the bus back home after about 8 miles of hiking when it turned out that we’d have to wait for an hour and a half for that bus! So we opted for the other, much more fun alternative: A boat that leaves from a little harbor at the bottom of the Helligdomer cliffs and goes straight back to Gudhjem harbor. We still had to wait from about 2:30 pm to 3 pm, but we just sat and rested on the rocks by the pier (after I clambered around for a bit). And then we had a little boat ride on a small boat without any covered areas (I was surprised that it was supposed to hold up to 70 people!), and retraced our 3+ hour coastal trail on the water in about 30 minutes.
We walked home through the small but very busy downtown of Gudhjem, grabbed a few more things for a little coffee break and dinner, and were back home by about 4 pm. The coffee tasted EXCELLENT, I have to say. We all rested a bit (well, mostly, I caught up on the blog, and Mark processed some photos), and then I made us omelets and salad for dinner, which we had with a German style “Abendbrot”–bread and cold cuts and an excellent Danish cheese with caraway seeds that we bought this afternoon. The postprandial adventure for the day was that Andrea and I finally got a quick swim. Once we made up our minds, failure to get in was NOT an option. Peter and Mark went along to document our momentous three minutes in the water–as always with cold water, the worst part was getting in, and it was bracing, but invigorating to be in the water. We might do it again! What we will for sure do again is find the sunset. With our last bit of energy, Mark and I went in search of a spot where we might be able to see it at 9:30 pm, and it turns out that you CAN, from a little churchyard high up on the very edge of the harbor. It was a fittingly spectacular view at the end of a day with so many Romantic, sublime, picturesque and otherwise glorious views, and made me very happy to have taken those extra steps (over 32,000, or so my Watch claims).
